Ben Affleck is getting real about being a parent to teenagers, and how he can sometimes be the butt of a joke.
During a recent interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” the 54-year-old actor got candid about what it’s like parenting teenagers, saying he never could have imagined he “wouldn’t be the cool dad.”
“I’ll give you an example. My kids are talking at dinner, and they’ll talk about their friends and the drama and the relationships and I have some lived experience I think that’s worth sharing, some lessons … these are the kind of things we give to our children.”
He then recalled trying to give his kids advice about a relationship, when “the 17-year-old just turns to me and goes, ‘Oh, like you’re the expert on relationships?'”
JENNIFER GARNER SAYS DIVORCE FROM BEN AFFLECK CAUSED ‘UPHEAVAL’ THAT KEPT HER FROM WORKING FOR YEARS
Affleck shares three children with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, including Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14.
He and Garner were married for over 10 years before deciding to separate in 2015, later finalizing their divorce in 2018. Aside from Garner, Affleck has been in many high-profile relationships, including “Saturday Night Live’s” Lindsay Shookus and Playboy model Shauna Sexton.
The “Good Will Hunting Star” then made waves in 2019 when he was spotted with actress Ana de Armas, who he dated from late 2019 until early 2021, after which he reconnected with his former fiancé, Jennifer Lopez.
Lopez and Affleck initially dated from 2002 to 2004 and reconnected in April 2021. They went Instagram official in July 2021, were engaged by April 2022 and got married that July.
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“We really live our lives in a way we can be proud of and our kids can be proud of you,” she wrote in her newsletter at the time. “We’re just operating from a place of love and respect for everyone in our lives and that is very important to us. We know what the truth is [and] we hold it sacred.”
After just over two years of marriage, Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024.
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When speaking to host Jimmy Kimmel, Affleck shared that Garner was approached to play his love interest in his newest film, “Animals,” but she passed on the opportunity.
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“Jen was like, ‘Great, but no, I’m not gonna play your wife in a movie,'” he said. “[It’s] probably for the best. That lesson has been learned.”
After Garner turned him down, Affleck turned to Kerry Washington, who accepted the role. The movie, which Affleck also directed and co-wrote, follows the story of the husband and wife duo who do whatever it takes to pay their son’s ransom.
